Noh mask : Jō and some of it's type

Hey guys, good to be back with you all, thank you again for reading this series of blog of Noh and it's mask of mine and today we gonna continue this blog on a fresh new topic called Jo, which translated as elders, so let's get right into it..

As a noh mask, Jo type of mask usually potrayed as an incarnate spirits and like every other Noh mask type out there, Jo mask too have a great variety of types which can be distinguishable by the elderly features on the mask such as their hair and that's it. The types are Ko-jō, Asakura-jō, Sanko-jō
and Warai-jō. they are often worn by the leading actors in Part One in waki-nō (god plays) or shura-nō (warrior plays), in which they play incarnate spirits. W
hich i'll be covering some of them.

Following on the last blog format, i'll only be covering some of the Jo type of Noh mask, which i found the most interesting, because i really don't have the guts to cover all of them, because there's so many of them existed out there. maybe someday but surely not today.

And here it is the nominated Jo/Elderly mask of which i found most interesting, first is..

Hanakobu Akujō

This mask with a bump (Kobu) on it's forehead and couple of jutting on the nose (Hana), which make the character Hanakobu Akujō, and it's potrayed as an evil character in perfomances such as waki-noh, Aku, or "evil" have a strong presense of austerity in the theatre, the facial feature of this mask, turns out have been inspired by the foreigners, which kinda makes you wondered how this mask came into being, and believed it has an imposing presence on the play. While the hanakobu akujō been worn by the performers on the play, usually they use this mask to receive the decorative tori-kabuto headdress used in courtly performances, which bring attention to the audience on this otherworldly attire on the play.

Koushi-jō

This mask have some romance going on in it's life, as it's taken it's name from it's creator, Koushi, and carries on his name as a part of himself or works. a mask maker who was a near-contemporary of Zeami, compare to others it has some of the most dignified and detailed feature among of Jo-men, such details features a hairless moustache which engraved below a the nose and the typical upper teeth old man use to have or only have amongst the teeth, befitting an elderly title. In the play this mask is worn by leading actors and act as an old man whom by chance an incarnation of deities in it's play. One of the factors why this type of  Jo-men, is regarded as most dignified amongst it's bretheren of mask, is of course the clothing in which the actors worn while wearing the mask, something along the line, kimonos with small cross-stripes, white broad hakama trousers, or thin mizugoromo coats with wide sleeves, This mask is sometimes referred to as Ko-jō.    

Warai-jō

Where's the name come from kinda speaks for it's self, the name Warai means smile, which it's characteristic centered around on the wry expression and it's special smile of the mask which make it's stand out amongst many smiley Jo mask out there.The mask have an remarkable but regarded as less graceful as a commoner than Asakura-jō or Sankō-jō. The reason for this is a smiling and laughing features has been handed to Kyogen as it's main part of play, to that matter a smiling face no longer hold a significance and deemed as graceless. The role of the mask in the theatre play part as an old men which played by leading actors. This mask known on the play as an incarnation of monster, infernal spirits, dragon gods, and even common people, right down to earth, for someone as graceless as a dragon gods.

This is it for me guys, thanks for spending your time here, i hope you can learn and enjoy this blog, as am i.

Until then, have a nice day. 

Reference:

• http://www.the-noh.com/sub/jp/index.php?mode=db&action=e_index&class_id=1
• https://nohmask21.com/eu/mlist.html
• http://www.historyofmasks.net/famous-masks/noh-mask/